le 6 octobre Yesterday, we celebrated le Jour Mondiale des Enseignants – Global Teachers Day – and had no school. Lucky me, after I arrive I have a weekend, one day of school, then a day off! However that happened I`m not sure, but it`s been easier to adjust.
After morning mass gets out at 7h, the four of us meandered back to the house and ate breakfast together. (I`m already realizing that this rarely happens during the school week, as we each eat when we have a moment. Dinner is the only meal we habitually share together during the week.) We all head off to do our own tasks, and so I head to the library. During the school year, when I`m not helping a student or member of the community with English (or playing at Recreation with the students), I`m responsible for organizing the sisters` library and entering the data into the computer. Besides the books that are in Kinya or Swahili, I have them all sorted out into categories and am beginning to enter them, later to alphabetize and shelf them all. I`m really enjoying this project, as I get to browse through all sorts of documents in various languages and order the Library – I love organizing (thanks for the genes, Dad).
Early afternoon, the African Rain started up again so I went to close my window. Sr. Josephine saw me, and asked if I`d like to eat with her. Lovely. We opened the curtains of the dining room in order to watch the rain (my request, of course), and I was able to have some wonderful one-on-one time with her. She`s Rwandan herself, with her family living about 45 minutes from Kigali. She has a sweet smile and a kind soul, and is usually leading the songs at prayer. We sat together in conversation for over an hour, watching as the rain kept up.
For a few hours, I prepared lessons for tutoring Sr. Rose, listening to the incessant rain on the roof. From the other end of the house, I heard what sounded like a movie starting, and after a while I got curious. In the dining room (also with a sitting area), Sr. Gisele and Joseline were watching PARENT TRAP – the Lindsay Lohan version. What a classic. I sat in with them, and after a while Sister headed off to the community`s weekly meeting. When the movie was over (and I enjoyed every moment of it), the meeting was still going on and Joseline suggested we head out for a walk.
It was about dusk, so I grabbed my flashlight, though I quickly realized that I would be the only one with ``une torche,`` and left it off. Outside, men women and children hustled this way and that along the dirt road not wider than 10 or 12 feet with a ravine on either side. Mopeds zip through the people, too, with their headlight being the sole source of light. The people nor the riders fear one another, and often times I was stepping out of the way to make sure I wasn`t taken out. Even by this limited light, my fluorescent skin was obvious. Little kiddos were coming up to stare and smile at me, and were surprised when I greeted them with ``mwiriwe,`` which is one of my very limited Kinya vocabulary words. One of the teachers was riding by on his moto, too, and stopped to say `hi.` (I quite literally mean anyone could notice my super radiant skin!) I`m promised a tour by daylight, but for the time being it was so wonderful walking around the neighborhood and seeing where my new friends live.
During dinner, we turned on the evening news in Kinyarwanda, ``Amakuru`` is the program, and had our evening ritual – wash and put away the dishes, make tea and coffee (in a big Moka!!) for the following day and put them in thermoses, boil the milk (right from the neighbor`s cow), and set the table for breakfast, then heading out to a quick evening prayer in our chapel. I`m enjoying having a routine. There are certain things I do each day at home, often at the same times each day, but have never been THIS ritualistic about it. I find it comforting knowing what to expect and that you`ll be doing it together.
To round off the wonderful day off, I popped in an episode of Grey`s before bed. : )
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